Life's Little Absolute
by the lurker
Summary: Oscar gave up everything for the OSI..... But when confronted with an impossible choice, will he still be able to serve his country?
1. Chapter 1

Bionic Woman

"Life's Little Absolute"

**un·con·di·tion·al** _adj_

complete or guaranteed, with no conditions, limitations, or provisos attached; absolute, unrestricted, unreserved

Callahan watched him pacing back and forth behind his desk like a caged animal. She had been trying to dictate a letter for the better part of the last half hour, but Oscar was so unfocused she had nothing but a jumble of words on her notepad. Peggy couldn't put her finger on it: there had been no panicked call from the Secretary of State's office; no new national crisis; no disasters abroad with any of their agents; and as far as she knew, nothing had transpired at all in the past week that could account for his profound preoccupation.

Peggy cleared her throat slightly before speaking, "You know Mr. Goldman this letter can wait until tomorrow."

He turned to look at her. "Hmm?"

"I was just saying that this letter to the Secretary of Commerce could wait until tomorrow morning, sir." Peggy licked her lips slightly before continuing, choosing her words carefully. "You seem, I don't know, a little unfocused right now."

He glared at her. "Do I now?"

"Well, yes, a little."

His eyes shifted down to the document in the certified mail envelope on his desk which had arrived when Callahan had been at lunch: distracted didn't begin to describe his mood for the past five hours and he knew it. His dark brown eyes softened slightly.

"I'm sorry, Callahan, you're right. We should call it a day."

She frowned slightly at him as she rose to leave: there was something behind the cloudy dark eyes, she knew, but he was once again staring right through her. She shook her head and walked to the door, but before leaving she turned to him once more.

"Mr. Goldman? Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?"

He looked up, his mind clearly somewhere else, and he stuttered, "Uh… no, no thanks, Callahan. Good night."

"Yes sir."

Callahan left his office, closed the door, put away the documents on her desk and gathered her purse and coat. She looked at the heavy wooden doors before heading toward the glass ones leading to the hallway. Her lips twitched slightly with indecision, then purposefully she pushed on the doors and walked toward the elevator, but instead of stopping, she walked past the silver doors and into the stairwell, heading down one flight.

**************

Rudy looked up when he heard the door to his lab open. "Well Callahan, what a nice surprise," he said smiling.

She returned the smile though he noticed it didn't reach her eyes.

The wrinkle of his brow furrowed slightly in guarded concern. "What brings you down here so late?"

Callahan set her purse and coat down on a chair and walked closer to him, her arms crossing over her chest. "I was wondering if you'd spoken with Mr. Goldman at all today."

"No, no Callahan, I can't say as I have…… why?"

She began pacing. "Well, I….. I don't know exactly….."

Rudy recognized hedging when he saw it. "Callahan…."

She stopped pacing right in front of him. "He seemed fine this morning, before I went to lunch……"

Wells sighed, his voice turning slightly edgy. "Callahan….."

"Oh I shouldn't have bothered you, it's probably nothing….."

"Callahan," Rudy growled, "just spit it out."

"Mr. Goldman is one of the most focused and disciplined people I know when it comes to work, but he has been distracted and preoccupied most of the day, I couldn't get one thing finished that required his input." She looked into the chocolate brown eyes meeting her gaze. "It just isn't like him."

Rudy smiled slightly. "I appreciate that you're worried, but anybody can have an off day, Callahan. Despite how he sometimes appears, Oscar really is human, and is subject to the same foibles as the rest of us mere mortals."

"I've worked for Mr. Goldman for four years now, Rudy, and I've never seen him unable to concentrate, not like this."

Wells was thoughtful. "Did something unusual happen earlier today?"

She shook her head. "Not that I know of….."

Rudy nodded, thinking. "Yes, but then you're not privy to _everything_ that comes to his attention…"

Her tone became slightly defensive, "Well no, but then, _no one_ is."

He realized the faux pas. "Callahan, I didn't mean it like that; I just meant that perhaps something did happen that didn't come through you. Like a phone call on his private line for example."

She shook her head and shrugged, her worry evident in her eyes,

Rudy stood and put his hands gently on Callahan's shoulders. "Tell you what, I'll check in on him before I leave tonight, okay?"

She looked into his eyes and nodded. "Okay. It's probably nothing, but…"

"But now neither of us will sleep if we don't find out, will we?" He smiled at her surprised look. "I know how fond you are of him, Callahan – and even though Oscar doesn't say it often, he feels the same way about you." He put her coat on for her and walked her to the door. "Look, don't worry; if there is something going on, I'll get to the bottom of it and make sure he's okay."

She smiled finally. "I know you will." She grasped his hand for a moment. "Thanks, Rudy, I appreciate it."

He squeezed her hand gently before letting go. "Good night, Peggy, and don't worry."

"Okay."

He watched her go and then glanced at the clock on the wall: it was just past eight. Sighing, Rudy began tidying up his lab for the day. If he hurried along, he'd easily be able to catch Oscar and take him for a drink before either of them was too tired to make it home…..

***************

Oscar sat at his desk, staring at the certified envelope: but all the gazing in the world wouldn't change its contents.

Elizabeth Wilson.

He hadn't thought of her in years. And now she was dead. And buried. And she had never told him-- Oscar slammed his eyes shut trying to keep the tears from pouring out. Why had she done it? In anger, Goldman snatched the envelope in his right hand, crumpling it slightly. He stood as a tear escaped down his cheek, and stalked over to the bar. Grabbing a glass he filled it almost to the top with scotch. As tears began to flow freely down his face, he tossed the contents of the glass back, hoping to quell the unnamed emotion hovering just beneath the surface of his control. Pouring more scotch into the glass Oscar went to the couch and plopped down on the end, staring at nothing as he numbingly drank from the glass, the envelope still clutched tightly in his right hand.

His heart felt as if it had been shredded down to nothing. He hadn't seen Elizabeth in twenty-six years. Twenty-six years and she never told him. There was some kind of cruelty in her leaving him a handwritten letter so that he would know everything that he had missed in those twenty-six years only after she was gone and he couldn't do a damned thing about it. It was cruel. Why not just let him continue on in blissful ignorance? What difference would it possibly make now, twenty-six years after the fact?

He had missed _everything_.

Oscar leaned his head forward into his still full hands, sobs rolling out from somewhere so deep inside of him he didn't even know the place existed until just then: a place filled with sorrow and regret for things he hadn't known and couldn't change. Another sob pulled at him and he thought he would never again be able to breathe. He didn't hear the soft knock at his door or the quiet entry of Rudy Wells a moment later.

Rudy walked into the office and looked first toward the empty desk thinking that Goldman had already left for the night. But then he heard a heart-wrenching cry from the other side of the room. Rudy turned and saw Oscar on the couch, weeping. The doctor's heart dropped to his knees as he thought of the possible scenarios that would bring Oscar Goldman to such an emotional onslaught. Swallowing hard, Rudy slowly walked over to his friend, and quietly sat on the coffee table in front of him.

"Oscar?" Rudy whispered gently. Wells carefully removed the glass of scotch from Goldman's large right hand. "Oscar, what happened?"

Goldman only became aware of Wells when he felt the soft touch on his arm. He looked up into his best friend's concerned eyes. "Rudy….."

Wells put a comforting hand on Goldman's shoulder. "Oscar? Tell me….." Goldman couldn't find his voice so Wells continued. "Is it Jamie?" Goldman shook his head and Wells tried again. "Steve?"

"No….nothing like that, Rudy."

"Oscar….."

"I…..it's too personal, Rudy."

Shoving down the hurt that was trying to insinuate itself into his chest, Wells swallowed. "Okay, I can respect that," he said carefully, "but Oscar, I can't remember when you've been this distraught….." Rudy swallowed hard, his voice turning to a whisper, "It's scaring the hell out of me right now."

Goldman looked into the caring eyes of Rudy Wells again and couldn't tolerate the pain that he was inflicting on his best friend with his silence. He looked down and closed his eyes as he silently handed Rudy the letter that had been clutched so long and hard in his left hand. Gently Rudy took it, and not moving from his close proximity to Oscar, he pulled the note and a document from the envelope, catching the enclosed picture of the young woman as it fell out. He quickly read the note, and shocked, had to read it again: then he examined the document, followed by the picture. He looked down at Goldman, who was still leaning his elbows on his knees, his head hanging down with his eyes closed. Rudy carefully replaced all the items back into the envelope and pressed it back into one of Goldman's hands. He put a reassuring hand on the shoulder closest to him and spoke very softly.

"Is it true?"

"I……don't know." Goldman could only shrug.

"Oscar, is it possible? Is it possible that this young woman, Susan Wilson, is your daughter?"

A shiver ran through Goldman to hear it spoken aloud, and Rudy rubbed his hand over his best friend's back. "I'm sorry, Oscar, but I have to know, is it at least possible?"

"Yes," Goldman whispered, "given the girl's age on the enclosed birth certificate it's possible."

"And you didn't know anything about this until this letter arrived?"

Oscar jerked away from Wells, standing in anger. "Of course I didn't know. Do you think I would have just abandoned my own child had I known of her? What the hell, Rudy…."

Wells stood and moved to Goldman, taking him gently by the arms. "Hey, settle down, I didn't mean it like that; I was just asking that the mother, this Elizabeth Wilson, never indicated anything at all to you?"

"No. Nothing. We…….only knew each other for a short time in Europe when I was on assignment there. She was working for the CIA at the time and our paths crossed on several missions." Oscar swallowed hard and Rudy could see how difficult it was for him as he said, "It was a short-lived affair, Rudy, nothing of a permanent sort of arrangement. We said good-bye twenty-six years ago in Paris and I neither saw nor heard from her again…."

"Until today," Rudy said quietly.

"Until today," Goldman echoed.

Rudy guided Oscar back toward the chair next to the couch and sat him in it. "I'm going to refresh your drink, just relax for a minute." Goldman nodded mutely and Wells continued thinking aloud. "It seems odd that she would keep something like this a secret all these years. I mean, even if she didn't want to make a more permanent family arrangement with you, why wouldn't she have at least told you so that you could have had some kind of role with the girl while she was growing up? And to only tell you upon her death and in such a way as this – what kind of woman was she anyway to do this to you; or any man for that matter?"

"A surprisingly cruel one apparently," Oscar whispered. Rudy handed him a fresh glass of scotch. "Thanks, Rudy."

Oscar gulped half of the glass in one belt and Rudy put a gentle but restraining hand on his shoulder. "Hey, take it easy with that stuff. Getting drunk isn't going to change this."

"No, but I can forget about it for awhile."

"Oscar….." Wells gently massaged Goldman's shoulders for a moment. "Come on, try and relax a little for me…."

After another moment, Rudy sat again on the coffee table in front of Goldman and the two men's eyes met. Oscar sighed deeply.

"I missed everything, Rudy. Her first steps, her first words, her first day of school….. Graduations, school plays, God help me, boyfriends, dates, college….. Does she play an instrument? Does she like to read? What does she do for a living? Is she married? Does she have children?" Their eyes locked as they both arrived at the most obvious and frightening question at the same time. And Oscar whispered, "Does she know about me?"

"Maybe Elizabeth Wilson didn't tell Susan either."

Oscar shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter now."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't contact her, Rudy." The chocolate brown eyes flicked quickly up to the sad, dark ones until Goldman continued. "If she doesn't know, I don't want to ruin her life by dropping a bomb like that on her head. What if she thinks some other man is her father? What if Elizabeth married someone and that man raised her as his own? Who am I to show up now and claim anything?"

Wells pat Goldman's knee. "Quite possibly her father, that's who." Goldman shook his head slightly and Rudy continued. "You're not going to just let it drop, are you? I mean, you're going to at least check out the veracity of it, aren't you?"

"Yes of course, quietly. But birth certificates, photos and letters from dead lovers can be faked, Rudy, just like anything else."

"Yes, but if you didn't think there was a very real possibility that this girl is yours, I know you Oscar, you wouldn't be this upset. What if you find out that she really is your daughter?"

"I don't know, Rudy," Oscar's voice sounded truly lost, "I just don't know."

Rudy put a gentle hand behind Oscar's head. "If Elizabeth never married, Oscar, and the girl doesn't think she has a father, then you owe it not only to yourself but to her as well to tell her."

Goldman pulled away from Rudy's grip and leaned back into the soft leather of the chair. "She may not want to know me, Rudy, did you think of that? What if she knows about me and thinks that I abandoned her?"

Rudy took Goldman's slightly shaky hand in between both of his. "Oscar, you're never going to know if you don't at least take the chance."

"First I'm going to find out if it's even true, and then I'll think about what I should do with the information." Oscar's dark eyes held Rudy's intently. "Rudy, I need you to keep this to yourself for the time being; I mean tell no one, not even Steve or Jamie."

"Okay, if that's what you need me to do, you've got it." He squeezed the hand between the two of his. "Just know I'm here for you no matter what you have to do, Oscar. I'll be here."

Oscar squeezed Rudy's hand before letting go. "I know, pal, I know."


	2. Chapter 2

Jamie had been at the OSI for two days while Rudy had run tests for her bi-annual bionic check-up. Two days and she had managed absolutely no information out of Rudy or Oscar about what was going on – and Callahan had been right, something was definitely bothering Goldman, of that she was certain. She walked into Goldman's outer office, still dressed in sweats, waiting for her next series of tests. She plopped into a chair by Callahan's desk.

"Still no word, huh?"

"Not a thing, Callahan. They're both as tight as a clam in August." Jamie smiled slightly. "I'm not done with it though. Oscar will be much more pliable after a relaxing dinner at Two Quail."

"He loves that place."

"Yes he does. And after a drink and a bottle of wine, I should be able to get him to talk."

Callahan chewed her lower lip slightly. "I don't know, Jamie."

"You don't know what?"

"You've only seen him the past two days. He's been like this for five and when have you ever known Oscar to be this moody? I can't stand to look in his eyes anymore, they're so sad and yet Rudy keeps trying to tell me there's nothing wrong. This has got to be something really bad; I mean they haven't even told _you_ anything. Maybe we should just leave him alone. He's got the upcoming Geneva peace conference to worry about too, you know."

Jamie looked toward the foreboding closed wooden doors. "That poor baby….. Why won't he just tell us what the problem is? Maybe we could help…."

A light began to blink on Callahan's phone.

"Do you need to answer that?"

"It's Mr. Goldman's private line." The two women stared at each other. "Jamie, I can't …. We can't. It could be something top secret. I mean really, we can't."

"But what if it's an answer to what's bothering him?"

Before Callahan could respond the light went back to blinking and the intercom buzzed. She pressed a button.

"Yes sir?"

"Callahan," Oscar's voice intoned, "get Rudy up here please. Tell him to hurry."

"Yes sir."

Callahan picked up the phone and pressed a few buttons. "Linda, it's Peggy, Oscar needs to see Rudy right away. He said to hurry. Thanks…."

Peggy hung up the phone and once again stared at Jamie. "Maybe we'll have an answer soon, huh?"

"Yeah," Jamie said, "but are we gonna like the answer?"

****************

Rudy entered the office just as Oscar was hanging up the phone, an odd look on his face.

"Oscar? Callahan said to hurry…."

"That was one of my contacts at the CIA, Rudy. According to what they have on file, it all checks out."

"Susan Wilson is your daughter?"

Oscar nodded, numbly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"No you're not."

"I'm a father, Rudy."

Wells grinned. "Yes, I know."

Then the reality of everything he was denied hit him again and his eyes filled with tears of sorrow. "Damn it…."

"Hey, just take it a little at a time, okay? Did Elizabeth ever marry?"

Oscar shook his head. "No record of it or of any long-time man in her life according to the CIA."

"They oughta know."

"Yeah."

"You going to contact her?"

"I…..I don't know. I can't really think about it until after the conference next week."

"I forgot about Geneva."

"After that, I'll figure out what I should do."

"You going to tell anyone?"

"You mean Jamie and Callahan?"

"They're both pretty worried about you, you know. So's Steve."

"Steve? How is he in on this, he's in South America…."

"A little bird named Jamie."

"Mmmmm….."

"Do what you feel you have to, but you might want to put them out of their misery."

"Don't you mean out of yours?"

Rudy grinned, "Yeah, well, that too. I'm tired of deflecting questions."

"I'm sorry I put you through it, Rudy."

"It's okay. It's not every day you find out you've been a dad for the past twenty-six years."

The knock on the door was firm, and the two men grinned at one another.

"Come in," Oscar called.

Jamie stuck her head around the door first. "Oscar? Everything okay in here?"

"Yes, Miss Sommers, it's fine."

It was the first time Jamie had seen him smile in two days. "You seem…. A little less burdened."

Goldman looked down at his shoes. "Yes......"

"I've got to get back to my lab." Oscar glared at Rudy for abandoning ship. "Jamie, I'll see you in about twenty minutes. Oscar, I'll take you out for a drink later."

"Oh no you don't, Dr. Wells," Jamie warned, "I'm taking Oscar to Two Quail tonight. I haven't seen him at all this trip, and I'm supposed to go home the day after tomorrow."

Rudy looked questioningly at Goldman in case he needed bailing out, but Oscar smiled. "It's fine, Rudy, I need to talk to Jamie tonight anyway."

Rudy smiled. "Okay, see you later."

Jamie looked at Goldman inquisitively. "You're not going to tell me a thing until later, are you?"

"No I'm not."

"You know what, Oscar," Jamie said as she placed a light kiss on his cheek. "I don't care, because I'm relieved just to know you're okay."

"I've been that awful, huh?"

"Yes, and worse to Callahan. She's been awfully worried about you, Oscar."

He nodded, "I know. Listen, you go finish your tests with Rudy and I'll pick you up at your hotel at seven, okay?"

Sensing he wanted to talk to Callahan alone, Jamie smiled at him. "Okay. I'll see you tonight."

As soon as Jamie was gone, Oscar opened the door and asked Callahan to come inside.

*****************

"But I don't understand," Peggy said, "how could this girl be your daughter?"

Oscar's eyebrows raised slightly. "Well Callahan, I seem to recall that her mother and I—"

"—Oh God," Callahan's face flushed with embarrassment, "I didn't mean _that_."

"Oh you didn't?" Goldman couldn't keep some of the amusement at his secretary's discomfort with the idea of him participating in conception from his voice. "My daughter's mother simple chose not to tell me. Well, not until now."

Callahan shook her head. "I still can't believe it."

"Me either."

Peggy smiled sincerely. "Are you going to see her, Mr. Goldman?"

Oscar frowned slightly. "I don't know, Callahan."

"Oh Mr. Goldman, why not?"

"It might just be selfish of me to come barging into the girl's life now, after twenty-six years of not having a father."

"But that wasn't your fault."

"No, but I also have to consider what it would do to the memory the girl has of her mother."

Callahan's eyes stung with emotion and she stood and walked over to where he was leaning on his desk. Peggy placed a gentle but deliberate hand on his forearm.

"Elizabeth Wilson obviously wanted you two to get together at his point or she wouldn't have sent that letter to you. And what about Susan? Doesn't she have a right to know her father?" She squeezed his arm. "And you, Oscar. What about you?"

"What about me, Callahan?"

"I know you pretty well, and I'd say any twenty-six year old girl would be really lucky to have a dad like you."

Goldman smiled, reached out and pulled Callahan into him for a brief hug. She pat his arm again before heading to the door. "I bet she'd be thrilled to hear from you today."

He shook his head. "No, no, this will have to wait until after Geneva."

"But why?"

"What, I'm supposed to call her up and say, 'hello Susan, this is the father you've known nothing about for twenty-six years, I just wanted to let you know we should get together after I get back from these peace talks I have to attend in Geneva….'" Callahan looked at him and smiled, and he grinned. "You know what I mean…."

"I know chicken when I hear it."

"Callahan!"

"What?"

"That's just not true."

"Uh-huh…." She opened the door as she crowed, "Ba-ok……bok-bok-bok-bok-bok-bok….." Peggy walked through the door and he could still hear her clucking like a chicken.

In spite of himself, Oscar Goldman had to laugh. And he also had to consider that Callahan was probably right.

*****************

Jaime watched him closely as he visibly began to relax: it had only taken an hour and a half, a martini, and half a bottle of wine. The man was wound too tightly. She reached across the table and took his hand.

"Oscar, you know how I love your company and think that you're the most charming of all of my men, but we both know that there's something you wanted to talk to me about."

The smile faded from his face as he set his glass back down onto the table. He had thought long and hard all afternoon about how Jaime would take this particular news. While she wasn't his daughter, she had been the closest thing to it he'd ever had – she was used to being the center of his attention. He knew that his love for her would never change: but even so, things would be different now that he would have to make room in his heart for his own child. The question was how would Jaime take to it.

"Jaime, you know how I feel about you, don't you?"

Her hazel eyes darted in fear toward his: whatever was coming, it couldn't be good if he was starting this way. He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"I love you very much, babe, I always have, and I always will, and there's nothing that will ever change that."

"Oscar," Jaime's voice shook slightly, "what's going on? Are you ill and you and Rudy have been keeping it quiet?"

"No, Jaime, nothing like that." He pulled her hand into both of his, holding it gently. "Many years ago I was…..involved with a woman named Elizabeth Wilson. I was working for Naval Intelligence and she for the CIA, and our paths crossed several times in Europe."

Jaime's face lit up with amusement. "Oscar, are you trying to tell me you had an affair with a CIA agent?"

He glared at her slightly. "No, Jaime…. Well, yes, but that isn't the point of what I want to tell you."

"Oh, this is just the introduction? Must be some kind of tale coming…."

"Jaime, listen to me, please."

"I'm sorry, Oscar, this just isn't like you….."

"I have a daughter."

"What?"

"I have a twenty-six year old daughter, Jaime. Her name is Susan Wilson."

"What--… why didn't you ever say anything about this?"

"I didn't know, babe."

"You didn't…..know…."

"No. Her mother chose to keep it from me until her death, and then I received a letter that her attorney had been keeping. In it she told me that Susan was the product of our liaison all those years ago."

Jaime withdrew her hand from his grip. "How do you know it's true?"

"I checked it out through a contact at the CIA."

"But documents can be faked, surely you can't expect to believe that something like this would stay secret from you all of these years."

His brow furrowed slightly. "Jaime……."

"You need to have Rudy run paternity tests—"

"—Now wait just a damned minute, Jaime. I knew that you might be upset by this, but you're taking it a little far."

Her eyes glossed over slightly with tears, surprised by her own depth of emotion. "I…… you're right, I'm sorry. I just wasn't expecting anything like this…."

"Neither was I, babe."

"Oh Oscar, I'm sorry for reacting like this. I haven't even told you I'm happy for you."

"Are you, Jaime? Are you happy for me?"

She grabbed his hand tightly. "Of course I am, Oscar. Of course I am…."

And Jaime was; but on some level deep down, she felt an irrational and inexplicable fear.


	3. Chapter 3

Callahan pressed the hold button on her phone and swallowed hard as she pressed the intercom button.

"Mr. Goldman, uhm, there's a call for you on line one."

"Callahan, I asked not to be disturbed right now," Goldman's irritated voice responded through the small box.

"Yes sir, I'm sorry, but I think you might want to take this one. It's Susan Wilson."

There was a long moment of silence, then he finally answered, "Uh, yes, Callahan, thank you. Put her through."

Callahan pressed the appropriate buttons and chewed on her lower lip: she hoped he would be okay.

******************

Oscar pressed the blinking button on his phone with a shaking hand.

"Hello, Oscar Goldman speaking…"

"Mr. Goldman, my name is Susan Wilson…… I'm, I'm sorry to be calling you like this, but I wasn't sure how else to get in touch with you. You see, my mother passed away recently, and she—"

"—Uh, yes, Miss Wilson, yes, I'm aware of that, and I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Did she…. Did she contact you?"

"Yes, Miss Wilson, yes she did."

Goldman heard the slightly relieved sigh on the other end of the line. "I'm glad, I wasn't sure how I was going to broach this subject."

Oscar gripped the phone hard, causing his knuckles to turn white. "Yeah, I was wondering if you knew…."

"I didn't until I read the letter she left for me." There was an awkward moment of silence. "Have you known, Mr. Goldman?"

"No Miss Wilson, no. Your mother never told me about you—" Emotion caught in his voice and he had to clear his throat. "I, uhm, well, if I'd have known….."

"It's all right, Mr. Goldman, this is awkward for both of us. I've grown up thinking that my father was dead."

"I'm sorry, Miss Wilson. I'm so very sorry." He swallowed hard. "I don't know why Elizabeth chose to handle it this way, there was no explanation in her letter to me. I just don't know what to say."

"I was wondering, Mr. Goldman, is there was any chance that we might meet. I'm… well, I'm sort of anxious to meet my ……father after all of these years."

He smiled slightly despite his swirling emotions. "I'd like that too, Miss Wilson. I'd like that very much."

"I'm in Washington D.C. this week on business. Is there any chance that we might meet somewhere for a drink? Or possibly dinner?"

Oscar grabbed his appointment book, and despite knowing that Callahan would be upset with him for making changes himself, he opened it. He was booked solid. But he didn't care. He put a line through his dinner engagement with Jaime and Rudy that evening.

"Miss Wilson, how would you feel about meeting tonight?"

"Tonight would be just fine, thank you."

"There's a restaurant right in town, McCormick & Schmick's…."

"I know right where that is, Mr. Goldman."

"Fine, fine, shall we say 7pm then?"

"That will be perfect."

"Fine."

"Uh, Mr. Goldman….how will I know you?"

"I'll get there a little early and get a table, so you just ask the maitre'd to take you to my table."

"Terrific. I'll see you tonight then."

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it."

"Good-bye, Mr. Goldman."

"Good-bye, Susan."

He hung up the phone and a moment later there was a knock on the door.

Sighing he said, "Come in."

The door opened and Callahan walked in. "Everything okay?"

He smiled slightly. "Yes, Callahan, everything's fine. You don't need to worry."

Her cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment. "I can't really help it, Mr. Goldman."

He chuckled slightly. "I know. Listen, can you call down to Rudy's office and tell both him and Jaime that I have to cancel our dinner tonight?"

"Sure," Callahan said heading back out the door. And then it hit her. "Are you having dinner with your daughter?"

He smiled at her. "Yes, Callahan, I am. And I think I like the sound of it… my daughter."

"I'll let them know right away. Can I make a reservation for you?"

"Yes, McCormick's for two at 7pm."

"I'll take care of it."

"Thanks Callahan; and Callahan, let's keep this between us, okay? Just tell Rudy and Jaime that something came up. I don't want to have to deal with the scrutiny of either one of them just yet."

"Okay."

She closed the door and Oscar couldn't wipe the goofy smile off his face: his daughter. He didn't just like the sound of it; he loved it.

*****************

"It's my last night in DC, Rudy, what could have come up that would make Oscar cancel our dinner?"

"Didn't the two of you just have dinner?"

She smiled at him. "Well yes, but this was going to be the three of us."

He smiled. "I'll take you to dinner, don't you worry."

She reached over and ran a hand through his hair sweetly. "And I love you for that, but you know what I mean…." Her face took on a far away look. "What do you suppose is going on?"

"Jaime," Rudy scolded slightly, "Oscar's a pretty important guy you know, and he does have the peace conference coming up – it could be almost anything from the secretary on down." He pat her arm. "Look, I'm sure it's government business or Oscar wouldn't have canceled especially since it's your last night here, so stop pouting and let's get these tests finished. Besides," he kissed her forehead, "I'll take you anywhere your little heart desires."

"How about McCormick and Schmick's then…. They always have the best fish in DC."

"McCormick's it is. Now get on that treadmill, Miss Sommers or we won't be finished in time to even have dinner!"

*****************

Oscar sat at a table for two in the back of the restaurant, facing the entrance so that he could see any young woman approaching the table. For the twentieth time he wiped his palms on his napkin, trying to stamp out the nerves that were making his hands sweat. He felt like some kind of anxious bridegroom; only this was worse, he had missed her birth, all of her schooling, the little things like scraped knees and homework, and what must have been traumatic for her, the death of her mother. He had missed it all and now that the girl was twenty-six years old, father and daughter were meeting for the first time. It seemed surreal to him. And Oscar never liked the unpredictable unknown.

He glanced at his watch: 7:10. He took another gulp of his martini in the hopes that the gin might calm his nerves. And then he saw a young woman in her mid-twenties enter the restaurant and speak to the host. She was dressed in a smart navy blue suit, her dark hair styled neatly to her shoulders. She was fairly tall and somewhat lanky and carried herself with an elegance that couldn't be learned. He felt his chest swell with pride as she made her way toward him, and he stood when she was a few feet away, extending his hand.

"Miss Wilson?"

"Yes, Mr. Goldman, I'm Susan Wilson." She took his hand in greeting. "It's very nice to get to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine."

He held her hand for a moment, smiling at her, then he held out her chair and seated her. After sitting down he motioned for the waiter.

"Yes sir?"

"Miss Wilson, what would you like to drink?"

She glanced down and saw his martini. "Gin martini is fine, thank you."

"One for the lady then," Goldman said to the waiter. He smiled at her. "Well Miss Wilson, I have to say you have every bit of your mother's beauty and then some."

She smiled at the compliment. "Is there nothing of my father in me?"

He looked down for a moment then met her dark brown eyes. "I don't know; if I'm lucky then perhaps I can claim i had something to do with it."

She laughed – a purely pleasant sound to Oscar's ears. "I'm a lot taller than my mother, and I have dark hair and eyes unlike her; I always assumed it was from my father, but since she said she had no pictures of him and he was supposedly dead, I could only guess." She reached across the table and impulsively took his hand. "But I can see now that these are indeed traits of my father."

Oscar felt his eyes rushing with moisture and he looked away momentarily before looking back at her. "You flatter me, Miss Wilson."

"Please, call me Susan."

"Okay, if you'll call me…. Oscar."

"It's a deal."

******************

Jaime was famished by the time she and Rudy got to McCormick's. They were seated at a table in the front and it wasn't until halfway through their meal that she noticed the couple sitting in the back of the restaurant.

"Rudy, Rudy, look back there…."

"What?"

"Look back at that table. It's Oscar and…. A date?"

Rudy looked back and saw the young woman holding his hand tightly. "Hmmm, that dog. Where's he been keeping _her_?"

Jaime swatted Wells on the arm. "Rudy! He canceled our dinner for a date?"

Wells looked at her with incredulity. "Well Jaime, take a good look at the lady; after all, the man is only human, you know."

"So you've been telling us all lately. But this doesn't seem like Oscar."

Rudy thought about it for a moment, and then it struck him. "No, it doesn't… you don't suppose… I mean, it can't be…."

"Susan Wilson?"

"Yeah, you don't suppose he called her, do you?"

"He said he wanted to wait until after Geneva."

"Maybe he changed his mind," Rudy commented.

"Or maybe she called him." Rudy looked at her sharply. "Well there's no reason to assume that she didn't know about Oscar or that her mother didn't let her know right before her death, or like Oscar, right after."

"Good point." Rudy looked back at the couple again. "They are holding hands, but it doesn't look like it's, you know…."

Jaime's eyebrow raised. "Sexual, Rudy?"

"Uh, yeah." Jaime seemed slightly deflated, and Rudy's voice took on a soft quality. "What is it, honey?"

She smiled at him, although he could see it was for his benefit. "Nothing, Rudy."

"Jaime…."

"Really, it's nothing."

She glanced again at the table and tried to shove down the feeling of jealousy that was flooding her. It was ridiculous and she knew it: Oscar, for all that he was to her, was not her father, and she had no right to keep all of his affection just for herself. She wondered if she wouldn't be happier if it was a date and not potentially his progeny. Feeling Rudy's stare she met his eyes, and took his hand.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm just feeling a little…."

"Left out?"

"Yeah, a little. Silly, isn't it?"

"Not really, honey. You've been the center of his emotional world for a long time and now you might have to share him a little bit. But Jaime, Oscar loves you, you know that, and that's not going to change no matter what. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I do. It's just going to take a little getting used to, I guess."

But Rudy could see in her eyes that it wasn't over. There was something behind them that looked like suspicion. Yet for now, Rudy knew he would have to just let it go; until Jaime was ready to deal with it, there was no point in needling her.


	4. Chapter 4

Oscar and Susan left the restaurant without ever noticing Jaime and Rudy, and the latter two had gracefully allowed them the distance to leave for all intent and purpose, unobserved. Oscar held Susan's hand tightly on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant.

"Can I drop you somewhere?"

"That's very sweet, but—"

"—It's really no trouble you know; it would be my pleasure."

Realizing that he just wanted to see her safely home, she acquiesced, smiling. "Sure. I'm staying at the Monaco."

Oscar whistled. "I'm impressed, that's quite the little boutique hotel. Your job must take good care of you."

"Yes, it does."

Oscar motioned for his car and driver to pull up, and after helping her into the limo, he climbed in behind her.

"It looks like _your_ job takes a little better care…." She said to him, admiring the limo.

He laughed. "Sometimes, perhaps."

"What is it like being the director of such an important government agency?"

He shrugged. "Like anything else I suppose…."

"Probably not _quite_ like anything else."

He smiled at her. "Maybe not. But I like it."

"How did you meet mom?"

"Oh that's kind of a long story, Susan. One that should probably wait for another night."

"I'm only here for another two days, then I head back to Philadelphia."

"Then I guess we'll just have to spend as much time together as we can over the next few days," he said grinning at her.

"I'd expect a man in your position to be extremely busy."

"That's true, but there's nothing more important than family." And in that moment, Oscar realized he had always felt that way but had never truly known the joy of it. "I can make time for my ……….daughter."

Impulsively she reached over and hugged his neck. "I'm so glad we finally found each other, Oscar."

"Me too, Susan, me too."

*******************

Oscar pushed through another folder of information in preparation for the peace talks, but he was finding that it was extremely difficult for him to concentrate. He would much prefer spending time with his newly found child than reading a damned briefing. He punched a button on his intercom.

"Callahan, call the Monaco please and see if Susan is there; I'd like to take her to lunch."

"Mr. Goldman, you're supposed to go to lunch with Jaime before she catches a plane back to Ojai."

"Oh, I forgot. Well, I'm sure Jaime will understand. My daughter's only in town for a few days, Callahan. As a matter of fact, when you get Susan on the line, I want you to book her in for every lunch and dinner between now and the time she heads home. Cancel whatever else I might have."

Callahan's eyes widened in slight surprised, but she tried to keep it from her tone. "Yes, sir."

Callahan pressed another button and called the Monaco; but she knew that if Susan was free, Jaime was going to be upset, especially following their conversation of this morning when the OSI agent had admitted to feeling great trepidation over Oscar's newly found daughter.

******************

A half an hour later, Jaime walked into Goldman's office and put her hands on her hips. "Hey, what's the big idea canceling on me twice in a row?"

"Jaime….." Oscar stood and walked over to her, kissing her lightly on the cheek. "I'm sorry, babe, I really am, but Susan's only here for a few more days."

"And I'm only here until 5pm this afternoon…."

"Come on Jaime, it's not the same thing and you know it."

She fingered his lapel lightly. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just feeling a little, I don't know, left out or something."

"Oh Jaime, you have nothing to worry about, don't you know that?" He grabbed her hand and pulled her into him, wrapping his long arms around her tightly. "You're family to me, and you know it. I love you very much, babe, nothing will change that."

She nodded against him, but she felt tears sting her eyes; for to Jaime, their relationship had already changed. But she knew she was being selfish and that she needed to put her emotions aside for Oscar's sake.

But Goldman had already felt her body shaking against him slightly. He tightened his grip around her.

"Come on, baby, it's okay," he whispered soothingly into her ear. "It'll be fine, I promise you."

"I know I'm overreacting," Jaime whispered, "and I'm sorry, but I can't seem to help it, Oscar. I don't want to lose you."

He held her at an arms length and wiped away the errant tears from her cheeks. "Is that what you think? That I can trade in my love for people like some kind of used car? Hmmm?" He looked into her tear-filled eyes. "Now Jaime, you listen to me: you are not going to lose me, I promise you. But you don't want me to not know my own daughter, do you?"

"Of course not, Oscar. I'm sorry for reacting like this…." Jaime felt nauseous. "This is so irrational, I don't know where this is coming from….. "

He pulled her into him again. "I think I do…… if James Sommers walked through that door right now, I'd probably feel a little bit odd about it too." He held her very close. "And a little threatened."

"But you don't feel that way about Jim do you?"

"No, but I've always had to share you with Helen, Jim and Steve. And Rudy."

"Aw, Oscar, you know how special you are to me…."

He smiled at her. "I think I do, yes. And that's my point, babe: you're very special to me too, and no one can replace you in my life. I can't trade in one daughter for another."

She kissed his cheek before pushing away from him. "Just promise me you'll be careful, Oscar."

"Careful? Careful of what?"

The nauseous feeling returned. "I don't know, Oscar, just keep your wits about you, for me, okay?"

He looked skeptical, but smiled at her anyway. "I always do, babe."

There was a knock on his door, and Susan Wilson entered, recognizing immediately that she had just interrupted something very personal. And then she stared at Jaime.

Oscar recovered quickly. "Susan, I'd like you to meet someone very dear to me, this is Jaime Sommers. Jaime, this is… my daughter, Susan Wilson."

Jaime extended her hand and smiled, although she couldn't shake the nagging feeling of distrust deep within. "I'm pleased to meet the woman who's stolen Oscar's heart."

Goldman's eyes darted in concern at Jaime, but it was clear that nothing he could say was going to reassure her.

Susan smiled smoothly and shook Jaime's hand, but there was a hint of irritation in her tone. "A pleasure, Miss Sommers." Then she turned toward Goldman. "Ready for lunch?"

"You bet," he said wrapping an arm around her waist, "I'm starved. Jaime," he said looking back at the agent, "have a safe flight. I'll talk to you sometime next week, okay?"

"Okay. See you."

And they were gone, leaving Jaime feeling even worse than she had before.

****************

"Jaime," Rudy said pacing his lab, "I'm really surprised at you."

"I can't help it Rudy. I trust my instincts and my instincts are telling me there's something not right about that woman."

"_That woman_, Jaime, happens to be Oscar's child. He loves you, but if you keep pushing the issue—" He stopped himself before he said it aloud.

"If I keep pushing the issue, what?"

"Nothing," Wells muttered.

"Rudy…"

"I'm sorry, honey, but if you push him into making a choice between you and his daughter you won't be leaving him much room."

Jaime tried to fight the feeling of insecurity that was rising in her throat. "Oh Rudy, I'm not trying to make him choose. I just keep having this gnawing sense that something isn't right with this whole thing. Think about it, out of the blue Oscar learns he has a twenty-six year old daughter.... what are the odds of that?"

"These things do happen, Jaime." Rudy put his arm around her. "Honey, you're probably just a little jealous. And that's okay, Oscar will understand that, but you can't deny him the space to get to know Susan. I've never known you to be like this, Jaime."

Jaime put her arms around Rudy, drawing him into a hug. "I don't mean to be awful, Rudy, really I don't. I just can't help how I'm feeling inside."

Wells held her protectively in his arms, stroking her hair with his hand. "Don't worry, Jaime. It's going to be fine, you'll see. The two of them just need time to get to know one another and then they'll be a balance. Oscar's never had a lack of love and affection inside; they'll be enough for both of you, I promise."

Jaime knew that Rudy was right, at least in what he was saying about Oscar; but it did nothing to quell her misgivings regarding Susan Wilson. There was just no way around that.

And Jaime really hoped that her gut instinct was wrong.


	5. Chapter 5

Bundled up against the cold DC night, Susan clutched the inside of Oscar's arm as they strolled toward the Monaco hotel.

"Thanks for letting me choose to walk back on such a brisk night."

"I don't mind," Oscar replied, "I kind of like the cold weather."

"Oscar, thanks for taking the time to spend with me so I could get to know you a little."

"Don't thank me, Susan, I wanted to do it because I want to know you at least as much as you want to know me."

She leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked the final 200 yards toward the hotel lobby door. "I felt so lost when my mother died; I was just so alone. Twenty-six and no family." She stopped walking and turned toward him. "But now I have you. And I'm so grateful for that."

Oscar kissed her forehead before pulling her into a tight embrace. "You have no idea what it means to me, Susan. No idea at all."

After a moment, she pulled him by the hand into the lobby and out of the cold. "How about a nightcap? The hotel bar's still open."

"Thought you'd never ask!"

They headed toward the bar and found an empty table. Oscar had to swallow hard to keep the moisture from stinging his eyes.

"Oscar, what is it?"

"It's………nothing, Susan. I'm sorry. Really, it's nothing," he repeated as he wiped the tears from his face.

"You can tell me, you know."

He looked into the dark brown eyes so like his own and smiled. He grabbed her hand tightly. "Yes, I know I can. It's just that while I knew that I had missed out on a lot by being married to my job and not having a family, I truly had no idea how much I had missed until now. Don't get me wrong, I love my OSI family – Rudy, Callahan, Steve and Jaime – but this," he held their clasped hands up, "my own flesh and blood; it's different." Goldman looked intensely into her eyes and kissed the top of her hand. "I love you very much, Susan, and I want you to know that you mean the world to me."

Tears filled her eyes and she clasped his large hand inside both of her own. "I love you too….. daddy."

At her use of the endearment, Oscar's eyes rushed once again with tears and this time he just let them go.

*****************

From several tables away, two men in dark suits sat with their drinks, observing the emotional scene before them.

"Do you think it will work?"

"I think it has a great chance, yes."

"He seems more than just a little attached."

"We'll know soon enough."

"I'll contact Najjar and tell him it's a green light."

"Yeah. Just make sure he understands that payment is due upon receipt."

"Fine." The shorter man stood, shrugged into his coat and gulped down the last of his drink. "We go tomorrow."

"Fine."

The taller one watched the shorter one walk through the bar area and lobby and out the side door. He continued to watch the people at the other table until they finally got up to leave, the man walking her toward the elevators. The tall one stood and got into his coat. There was nothing more for him to do tonight.

******************

Oscar walked Susan to the door of her hotel room, took her key from her, unlocked it and held the door for her. He followed her inside and out of a long habit, swept the room with his eyes. Satisfied that she was safe, he set the key down on the table, and put on his coat. He held out his arms and Susan hugged him tightly.

"I'll miss you something awful, you know," she said into his chest.

"Yeah, me too." He cleared his throat. "When will I see you next?"

"I get up here at least once a month for business. Do you ever get down to Philadelphia?"

"Not too often," Goldman admitted, "but I can see that changing in the near future."

"I hope so. What about Thanksgiving? Where do you usually spend Thanksgiving?"

Oscar looked away. "To be honest with you, I don't usually celebrate it."

"Well," she tugged on his lapel. "That's going to change, daddy."

He smiled down at her. "You're the boss."

She walked him to the door. "I get you from now on for every holiday, got it?"

He tapped the end of her nose with his finger. "Got it."

He kissed her and hugged her once more. "You have a safe train ride back home; are you sure you don't want me to see you to the train station tomorrow?"

"No, don't be silly. I know you have things to do, and I'm a big girl. I know how to get there."

"Let a father feel a little needed, okay?"

"You're needed, don't you worry!"

"Bye, sweetheart. I love you."

"I love you too, daddy."

He smiled at her, walked out and waited until he heard her slide the safety bolt home. Then feeling strangely content for the first time in his life, Oscar Goldman walked toward the elevator, heading for home.

***************

Oscar had been neck deep in briefings for the Geneva peace talks all day when he was interrupted by a phone call on his private line.

"Hello, this is Oscar Goldman."

"We have your daughter."

"What?"

"Unless you call off the peace talks in Geneva between Israel and Palestine, you will never see her again."

"Who are you?"

There was a shuffling sound as the telephone receiver was passed to someone else, and a shaky female voice came on the line. "Daddy….." Susan's voice cried, "Daddy please help me….."

Oscar felt his heart drop to the floor as he gripped the phone tightly in his hand. His eyes closed in an attempt to keep his voice calm.

"Susan, honey, it's all right, it'll be all right….."

"Daddy, I'm so scared."

"It's all right, baby, I promise I'll take care of you."

The first male voice spoke, "Do as we say, and we'll return her to you. Go through with the talks and we'll not only kill her, we'll send the body parts to you one by one."

"Who the hell are you?" Oscar screamed into the phone. "Give me back my daughter!"

"Call off the talks."

The phone went dead despite the fact that Oscar was screaming into it. Callahan came rushing in as Oscar was slamming the receiver back into its cradle. Goldman was ashen and shaking as he sat numbly into his desk chair.

"Mr. Goldman? Mr. Goldman, what's wrong, what's happened?"

He finally looked up at her, his voice barely a whisper. "Callahan, call Russ and Hansen. Get them here immediately. Somebody's got my daughter." His eyes slammed into hers. "Somebody's got Susan."

"Oh my God…."

Callahan quickly left to call the people he asked for, and also to call Rudy Wells. From the looks of him, Goldman was going to need his best friend by his side.

*****************

"They didn't tell you what organization they were with?" Hansen asked.

"He's already told you everything they said to him three times, Jack," Rudy growled, "what more do you want him to tell you."

"Calm down, Dr. Wells, any tiny thing could be important." He turned and looked at Goldman again. "Oscar?"

"There's nothing more, Jack. I told you everything."

"Yeah, except that you forgot to tell me about this daughter of yours. We should have had her under protection."

Oscar's eyes darted to meet Hansen's, guilt filling the lost sea of dark brown. Rudy squeezed Oscar's taut shoulder.

"Relax Oscar, despite Hansen's comment, this wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known." He glared at Jack. "And you….. Oscar didn't even know about his daughter until recently when the girl's mother passed away. Don't be so quick to snap at him."

Hansen looked curiously from Wells to Goldman, but neither man offered a further explanation, so he let it drop as he sighed.

"We'll do our best, Oscar, you know that."

Goldman nodded, still shocked at what had transpired. Hansen and his team left the room and Russ closed the door after them. Rudy sat on Goldman's desk right in front of where he was sitting in his desk chair.

"What are you going to do?"

"What can I do Rudy? I'll have to cancel the peace talks. I can't risk that they'll kill her."

"Oscar, the secretary's never going to go for that. Not after all it's taken to get this set up. Not for what it means in the big picture of the Middle East."

Oscar slammed his hand hard against his desk as he stood in anger. "I don't give a damn about the Middle East right now, Rudy. All I care about is my daughter."

Russ stepped forward then. "Oscar, Rudy's right, the secretary—"

"—the secretary be damned. We're talking about my daughter; I just found her and I'm sure as hell not going to lose her over some peace talks that can't possibly be successful anyway."

"What do you mean?" Russ growled, "This is the first time that we've been able to get everyone on board for the idea of it – it has a chance, Oscar."

"Better than just a chance," Rudy added, "obviously, or the people who don't want peace wouldn't have pulled this little stunt." Russ and Oscar looked at him so he continued. "Think about it: if it didn't have a chance why would a terrorist faction go to the trouble of kidnapping Oscar's daughter?"

Russ frowned. "Just how in the hell did they find out about her anyway? You just found out….."

"I don't know," Oscar said quietly, "and I don't care." He stabbed a button on the intercom. "Callahan, get me the secretary, right away."

"Yes sir."

A moment later his private line rang and he grabbed the phone. "Mr. Secretary… yes sir, yes, that's right, so you see….. well sir, actually I was going to suggest that we postpone the peace talks. Yes sir…… No, Mr. Secretary, I can't possibly, but…… yes sir, I understand the importance, but it's……. yes sir, thank you."

Oscar hung the phone up and tried to stop the tears welling up in his eyes. Rudy put a gentle hand on his arm. "Oscar?"

"He told me that I have to attend the peace talks at any cost, Rudy." Oscar's voice filled with sarcasm, "He said he was sorry….."

"Oscar…."

Oscar pulled away from Rudy and yanked a drawer of his desk open. He pulled out his firearm, and loaded the barrel with bullets. As he tucked it into its holster attached to his belt, Rudy and Russ looked at each other in concern.

Rudy put a light hand on Goldman's arm. "Oscar, what do you think you're going to do?"

"I know what I'm not going to do, Rudy. I'm not going to sit around here and wait while everyone debates whether or not to call off the talks and while Hansen tries to locate his navel. I'm going to find these bastards and I'm going to get my daughter back."

"And just how do you propose to do that, Oscar?" Russ said.

"I have connections, Russ, don't you worry about it."

"And the gun, Oscar," Rudy interjected, "what are you going to do with that?"

"Use your imagination, Rudy, I'm sure someone with your intelligence can figure it out."

Oscar stormed out of the room, leaving Rudy to look at Russ in panic.

"Don't worry, Rudy, I'll have him stopped before he gets out of the building." Russ picked up Goldman's phone and began dialing a number. "The shape he's in right now, there's no telling what he might do, and the last thing we need is for him to get himself killed."

Rudy swallowed hard and pressed his fingers into his belly, which had begun to burn with worry.

*******************

Oscar paced the inside of his office once again while Hansen blasted him.

"What could you have been thinking? This whole thing is amateur hour, Goldman, and you know it. You were a field operative for years before becoming a desk jockey; the first rule is to never go off from emotions – you know that. Stunts like that are only going to get you _and_ the girl killed." Finally Oscar looked at him. "Yes, the girl. Remember her?"

"Hansen—" Oscar started for Hansen, but Rudy grabbed his arm.

"Settle down, Oscar, I'm sure Jack didn't mean it quite that way, did you Jack?"

Rudy glared at Hansen and the smaller man let it go. "No, no I didn't." Jack took a step closer to Goldman. "Look, Oscar, I know how you are sometimes when it comes to people that you….care about. I'm just asking you to let us handle it. If the situation were reversed what would you do?"

Oscar sighed as he leaned against his desk. "I'd insist that we handle it."

"Yes, you would." In a rare moment of sympathy, Hansen put a hand on Goldman's shoulder. "I'll do my best, Oscar, you know that."

"I know, Jack. It's just hard being the one to sit here."

"Yes it is, and I wouldn't be any less difficult if the situation were reversed." He turned to Russ. "I want to talk to you outside for a minute." He looked back at Wells. "You keep him calm and keep him here, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it," Rudy spat out.

Hansen walked out with his team and Russ followed them. Goldman let the air out of his lungs that he hadn't even realized he was holding. Rudy gently rubbed the shoulder closest to him.

"Take it easy. Hansen's good at his job." Oscar nodded and Wells continued, "Besides, I've already called for reinforcements."

Goldman looked at him. "Jaime?"

"Yep. She should be landing in a few hours." Oscar nodded and Rudy pulled him up. "In the meantime, I want you to come over here and sit on the couch. I'll get you a drink, it'll calm you down a little."

"You've been prescribing a lot of alcohol lately, Dr. Wells…."

Goldman sat down and Rudy went to the bar, pouring a liberal glass of scotch. He handed it to Oscar. "In favor of Valium, yeah."

"Don't be ridiculous, I don't need to be sedated."

"Uh-huh. Just drink that and take it easy for awhile."

Rudy moved back toward the desk, put his hands in his pockets and began pacing.

"Are you just gonna stand there and pace?"

"Probably."

"Great. Because that's really gonna help me relax, Rudy."

Wells looked at him. "Sorry."

He walked over and sat in a chair by the couch. And Goldman rolled his eyes.

"Don't' you have _anything_ else to do?"

"Sure I do, but there's no way I'm leaving you alone in here. I can't trust you."

"Rudy….."

"Nope. Sorry, Oscar, but on this, Hansen's right. You need to stay put." Before Goldman could object, he continued, "How do you know that they won't come after you next? Did you think about that?" Oscar looked down into his glass and then it hit Wells. "Oh for Christ's sake…. That's exactly what you were trying to do wasn't it? You were going to put yourself out there as some kind of bait." Rudy tried to keep his anger under control, but his voice wavered slightly. "Oscar, I know you want to protect her – hell, you think it's your job to protect everybody, but given your position, you just can't do it. You have a greater responsibility." Oscar looked hard at Rudy, but didn't comment and Wells said, "Oscar, you know it's true."

Goldman took a large sip of his scotch and fingered the glass. "I've lived my whole life for my job, Rudy. I'm not sure that I can do that this time."

The two men held eachother's eyes and Wells finally spoke. "You're gonna have to go through me, Oscar to get out of this room, because you're the one who needs protection this time."

"Rudy, she's my daughter; I don't expect you to understand it, but—"

"—You don't _expect_ me to understand? As far as the timetable is concerned, you've been a father for 12 days, and suddenly you know better than everybody else?"

"I didn't mean it just like that, Rudy, I just meant—"

Wells held up his hand. "—I know what you 'just meant' and I didn't care for it."

They continued to glare at each other, but neither trusted himself to say another word.

***************

"How do you even know that this Susan Wilson is really Goldman's daughter?"

"Oscar checked it out with some contact of his at the CIA," Russ said.

"We'll let's just be sure then, shall we?" He turned to one of his men. "Charlie, get on this right away, will you? There's a birth certificate and a letter from one Elizabeth Wilson, let's make sure that it's legit." He looked hard at Russ. "You should have done this already you know. It's a bit sloppy for the OSI."

Russ knew Hansen was right, but still he felt he needed to defend Goldman. "Oscar is pretty convinced you know."

"I don't doubt that, Russell, but surely you understand that a man Goldman's age, a man who gave up any chance at a family for his job, is probably going to be leaning toward this scenario being real. He was ripe for it."

"That's not fair, Hansen. That's just not fair at all."

"Maybe not," the NSB agent admitted, "but that doesn't take away the fact that it's true."

Russ exchanged a look with Callahan, who heard the entire exchange.

"Callahan, can you keep an eye on him, make sure he's okay?"

"Of course."

"I'm going to go with the NSB and see that this background check is handled well." He lowered his voice to just Peggy. "If Hansen's right, then Oscar's been played and it's going to smart when he finds out."

She nodded. "If it turns out that way, Russ, we'll take care of him."

She watched the agent leave with the NSB agents, and when they were gone, she walked through the large wooden doors, closing them behind her. Oscar was sitting on the couch sipping a drink, and Rudy was sitting in a chair nearby; but Callahan could feel the tension between them.

"Well, what's going on in here?"

They both looked up at her, but neither man answered.

"Now listen fellas, I'm going to order out for food. Neither one of you has eaten a thing since before noon. It's well after five and before either of you gets any crankier, I'm going to feed you. What do you guys want?"

"I'm not hungry, Callahan," Oscar said.

"Neither am I, really," Wells agreed.

"You two can have input or you can eat what I give you, but you are going to eat."

They said nothing so she shrugged. "Fine, Chinese it is, I'll be back in awhile."

The door closed and Rudy looked over at Goldman, who looked exhausted.

"Oscar, why don't you lie down for awhile and try and rest?"

"I'm fine, Rudy."

Wells nodded but said, "I know. It would make me feel better if you tried to take it easy."

Goldman set his drink down and leaned forward on the couch so that he could put a hand on Wells' shoulder. "Rudy, I know you're worried, but I'm really okay. Besides pal, there's no way I can rest right now, you know?"

Wells nodded. "I know, me either."

Oscar leaned back into the couch and shivered slightly as he folded his arms across his chest. "Nothing can happen to her, Rudy. I just couldn't bear it…."

Rudy couldn't respond for the lump in his throat was too large for him to swallow down.

*****************

Oscar looked at his watch: it had been 35 minutes since Callahan had made the call for Chinese food to be delivered. He looked over at Rudy who was staring off into space. He stood and went to the bar and opened the ice bucket.

"Damn…."

"What's the matter?"

"We're out of ice."

"I've got some down in the lab freezer….."

"I'll ask Callahan if she'll go and get some of it," Oscar said. He walked to the door and opened it, "Callahan, would you mind running down to Rudy's lab and getting some ice from the freezer? We're all out and I could use a drink."

She looked at her watch. "The food's gonna come any minute now…."

"I think Rudy and I can handle a food delivery, Callahan, surprising though that might seem."

She smiled at him. "I'll just be a few minutes."

"Thanks, Peggy, I really appreciate it."

"No problem. You keep hanging in there."

"Yep."

She disappeared through the glass doors, nodding to the NSB men standing in the hallway. Oscar left the wooden doors open in anticipation of the delivery guy, and he headed back to the bar area. A moment or so later, one of the security men called for Goldman who appeared in the doorway.

"Food's here, Mr. Goldman," the man said.

"Thanks, come on in here please and I'll settle up with you."

"Sure thing, mister," the younger man said.

Oscar nonchalantly closed the door behind the young man. "Why don't you set it down over by the bar?"

"Yes sir."

Rudy stood, nodding to the young man as Oscar dug into his pocket for cash. "Oh hell," he muttered.

"What is it?" Rudy asked.

"I only have large bills, what've you got, Rudy?"

"I'm sure I've got some smaller stuff here." He looked at the tall young man in front of him. "What do you need?"

"Twenty-five sir."

"Okay…."

As Rudy dug into his pocket, the young man turned his back to continue putting out the containers of food for them, hoping to get a larger tip. Oscar came up behind Rudy, and hit him hard on the back of the head, knocking him out. He caught his best friend's slumping body as he crumpled from the blow.

"I'm sorry, pal," he whispered as he lowered him into the chair.

As the kid turned, Goldman struck him hard in the face. As soon as the surprised youth lost consciousness, Goldman lowered him to the floor. Oscar put a hundred dollar bill in the boy's lap. "For your trouble, son, that's gonna be a helluva shiner."

Oscar quickly stripped the kids clothes from him, took off his own suit, and dressing in the kid's clothes, except for his shoes since the young man's feet were too small for Oscar, he put the cap on his head, stuffed his gun in his pants and put his head down. He walked out of the wooden doors and nodding slightly to the men standing there, he walked right out of the OSI office, took the stairs and was out of the building before Callahan even made it back to the office with the ice.


	6. Chapter 6

Callahan gently pressed the bar towel filled with ice to the back of Wells' head.

"Oh that smarts," Rudy said.

"I'm sorry, I'm trying not to press too hard."

"I know; I'm not complaining at you, Callahan, it just hurts like hell."

"I can't believe Mr. Goldman hit you."

"Because we see him in this setting day in and day out, we forget that he was a top field agent in his day. He obviously hasn't forgotten any of the tactics," Rudy commented, wincing as Callahan gently moved the ice pack. "I should never have let my guard down. This was totally my fault."

Hansen burst in through the doors with Russ in tow.

"What the hell happened?"

"Oscar knocked me and the delivery kid out, took his clothes and waltzed right past your men, Hansen, that's what the hell happened," Rudy growled.

"Oh for God's sake," he glared at his men, "What the hell were you guys doing?"

"Sorry sir, he was dressed in the delivery kid's clothes and well, we didn't look that closely."

"_Obviously_." Hansen let out a sigh of air. "We all blew this one because we underestimated him. Has this kid delivered here before?"

"Yes," Callahan said, "every time we call for Chinese, this is the kid who delivers."

"So he knew the kid was tall and lanky, and that his clothes would fit."

"But he didn't ask for Chinese food," Callahan said.

"But I'll bet he knew you'd order it if he said nothing, didn't he?"

"Well, probably," Callahan admitted.

"He sent Callahan to get ice right before he knew the kid would be here, and then he distracted me by asking me for cash to pay the boy. Damn him," Rudy said.

"What's going on in here?"

They turned to see Jaime Sommers standing in the doorway. She looked over at Wells and rushed to his side.

"Rudy, what happened, babe?"

"Oscar pulled a fast one on all of us, Jaime."

"Where is he?"

"We don't know, Miss Sommers," Hansen growled.

Charlie walked in and handed Hansen a piece of paper. "Sorry boss, but I thought you'd wanna see this pronto."

Hansen looked at it and just shook his head. "Damn….." He handed it to Wells, who just groaned.

"What is it?" Jaime asked.

"Elizabeth Wilson is very much alive, and doesn't have a daughter. This woman Susan Wilson isn't related to Elizabeth Wilson, and Goldman isn't her father."

"Then who the hell is she?" Rudy demanded.

"We took a print from Goldman's limo and ran it through Interpol: she's a foreign agent who is most likely working for the PLO."

"Oh God," Rudy said, "he's out there trying to rescue a women he thinks is his daughter and she's working for the other side." He turned to Jaime. "They'll kill him if they get a hold of him."

"How the hell did they get this info past the CIA?" Russ asked.

"I'm sure they didn't," Hansen said, "do you know who Goldman spoke to at the agency?"

"No," Russ said, "Callahan?"

"I'm, I'm not sure…."

"Callahan," Russ warned, "if you know something, now's the time…."

She glared at Russ, "I…… I….."

"Callahan," Jaime said, "what are you doing?"

"I don't want to get Mr. Goldman in trouble, Jaime," Callahan muttered.

Russ shook his head. "Oh damn it, he called Yuri, didn't he?"

Callahan nodded.

"What was he thinking? He knows damned well that Yuri is only right about half of the time."

"We need to get out there and find him," Hansen said. "Charlie, get your teams rolling. I don't care how you do it, but get Goldman back here before he gets into any more trouble."

"Yes sir."

Charlie and most of the men left. Hansen turned to Oscar's friends.

"If any of you know anything else that might be helpful, now would be a good time to tell me."

But no one had anything more to say until Hansen and his men had left the room.

"He wanted her to be his child," Rudy said quietly, "that's why he went to Yuri."

"What are you talking about, Rudy?" Russ asked.

"I hadn't realized it, Russ, but I think Oscar's been feeling particularly isolated lately, and when he received the letter that he thought was from Elizabeth Wilson, I think he saw it as a way to have the family he'd always wanted but gave up when he took this job." Rudy grimaced slightly as Callahan softly rubbed the back of his neck, and his voice took on an edgy, sad quality. "I should have sensed his isolation before now. He's been working 16-hour days with no break for far too long. I should have been paying more attention, let him know that I'm here if he needs me. He was so ripe for something like this….."

Callahan put more ice on the back of Rudy's head and continued to rub out the stiffness in his neck. "This wasn't your fault, Rudy. I'm the one who sees him day in and day out, I should have noticed that he was unhappy—"

"--Hey," Jaime broke in, "it's nobody's fault. Oscar's a big boy, neither one of you is responsible for his happiness, okay?" She brushed her hand along Rudy's cheek. "And he knows how much you care Rudy, he does." Then she mused aloud, "How did the PLO know about Elizabeth Wilson?" Jaime asked.

"I don't know how they could," Rudy said. "I've known him for a long time and he's never mentioned her to me."

"At this point, we can figure all of that out later, or not," Russ stated, "but right now we need to concentrate on finding Oscar."

"This man Yuri," Jaime said, "do you think Oscar will go to him for help in finding Susan?"

Russ nodded. "Probably. He knows he can't use any official channels. Yuri's about his only shot. Damn him for going to him in the first place."

"Okay, just calm down," Jaime said, "we need to find out where this guy hangs out."

"Why not just call him?" Callahan asked.

"Because we need to surprise Oscar, otherwise he'll just disappear," Jaime said.

"I think he frequents a bar called The Senator on the other side of town," Russ offered.

"Well, I guess it's me," Jaime said, "Yuri doesn't know me, and I can act like I'm a working girl on the wrong side of Washington."

"Jaime, I don't like that idea much at all," Rudy said.

"Don't worry, Rudy, Russ'll cover me, won't'cha?"

"Yeah, I can go in quietly and take a seat in the back. Nobody'll notice me and I can keep an eye on Jaime."

Callahan replaced the ice pack on Wells' head once more and he groaned. Jaime knelt down next to where he was sitting, taking his hand.

"Don't you worry, Rudy. I'll find him. You just take care of that head of yours, okay?"

"Yeah," he smiled at her slightly.

She kissed him on the lips and nodded at Callahan. "Take care of him, he looks like he's hurting."

"Don't worry, I will."

Jaime and Russ took off, and Callahan rubbed a soothing hand over Rudy's upper back.

"Relax, Jaime can take care of herself, and in any case, Russ will be there with her."

"I know Callahan. I'm still going to worry about both of them. And Oscar too….."

"Yeah," was all Callahan could say.

******************

Oscar paced in the cramped space of the studio apartment. "Yuri, can't you move any faster?"

The Russian glared over at the man. "This only goes so fast, Oscar. Computers are not like automobiles, you don't just press on the accelerator and bam, you're there…."

Goldman sighed and ran a hand over his neck. "Time is crucial, Yuri." Oscar's voice choked slightly. "They have my daughter."

Yuri's head snapped to look at Goldman.

Oscar continued in a quiet voice, "They want me to call off or sabotage the peace talks in Geneva, Yuri. Either that or….." Goldman's voice broke and he looked away.

Yuri's voice was soft, "Either that or they'll kill her, eh?"

"Yes," Oscar whispered.

"Well then, I must strengthen my efforts."

Yuri turned his attention back toward the large banks of equipment he had stuffed along a wall in his apartment and began typing more furiously into his terminal.

*********************

"What do you mean you can't find them?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Hansen," Charlie said, "we've looked everywhere that we can think of, and it's like Goldman has just disappeared."

"Have you put a team on his apartment?"

"Yes sir, and also the restaurants and bars he frequents."

"What about this Russian character?"

"We've had some trouble locating him."

Hansen sighed and straightened his back slightly. "All right, but let's concentrate on this man Yuri – my guess is Oscar will be dealing with him."

"Yes sir…."

"Charlie?"

"Yes sir?"

"Have you been keeping tabs on Sommers and Russell?"

"Uh, no sir, didn't think that was important…."

"Charlie……if you put tails on them, they might just lead us straight to Yuri. My guess is they'll have better luck finding him before we do."

"Are you saying you think they're keeping information from the NSB?"

Hansen smiled slightly. "They always do, Charlie. They always do."

*************************

Oscar continued to pace across Yuri's carpet, but neither man had said a thing for hours.

"Ah……"

"What is it?" Goldman demanded.

Yuri swiveled in his chair to face Goldman, a smile on his face. "I have an address."

"And?"

"It's a PLO cell right here in Washington."

"Are you sure, Yuri? I might have only one shot."

The smaller Russian pulled his glasses off his face and walked over to Goldman. He placed a hand on Goldman's shoulder and handed him a paper. "I'm as sure as I can be, Oscar. It's the only thing I've come up with….."

Goldman took the paper and nodded gratefully. "Thanks Yuri. We're even."

Oscar grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

"Even, no," Yuri yelled, "you owe me now!"

But Goldman had already bolted out the door and Yuri decided it was long past time for a drink.

*********************

Jaime polished off her tenth club soda and glanced back over at Russ, who looked like he was going to float away. Six hours had gone by, and it was getting close to closing time; there had been no sign of Yuri. Just then a small man sat down at the end of the bar, and Jaime once again looked back at Russ, who nodded at her. Smiling, Jaime picked up her glass and sidled over to the man she now knew was Yuri.

"Hi," she said, smiling.

The Russian nodded at her. "Hello."

"You meeting somebody?"

"No……" He looked at her suspiciously. "Why?"

She smiled and leaned in toward him. "Just wondering if you were, you know available tonight."

He looked at her more carefully and smiled at how attractive she was. "I take it that you're available?"

Jaime smiled at him. "Sure am. For the right price….."

Yuri laughed. "You're a little more aggressive and I must say, far better looking, than the ones we normally get in here."

Jaime shrugged. "So how 'bout it?"

"Why not," Yuri said.

He got up, waited for her and they walked out, Russ following at a respectable distance. Yuri stopped and stared at Jaime.

"So, what hotel do you work out of?"

"I don't work out of one…. I usually go to the client's place."

Yuri shook his head. "Not mine, no. No one goes there. Besides there is no room for….. fun there."

Jaime inwardly grimaced; this was going to take more than she had wanted to give to get him to take her to his place. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on the mouth.

"Are you sure we can't have fun there?"

"We can have fun at half a dozen motels just a ways from my place, come on."

But Jaime held onto him, pushed herself into him and kissed him deeply. From a discreet alcove several yards away, Russ scowled.

Keeping herself pressed close into his body, Jaime breathed against his lips. "I don't have time to wait......" She kissed him harder, pressing herself even closer, feeling the bulge tightening in his pants. "You live close, don't you?"

"Yes," he panted into her mouth.

Jaime ran her hand back and forth over the front of his pants causing him to groan loudly. "Your place or not at all…."

And Yuri couldn't take it. He pulled her into him, shoving his tongue far into her mouth, Jaime trying hard not to gag in disgust. Playing the part, she continued to stroke him through his pants, and just as he reached to run his hand up her skirt, she pulled away.

"Let's go, now," she said.

Yuri grabbed her hand and pulled her quickly along toward his apartment building.

*******************

Russ followed them to a run-down building at the end of the next block and waited for them to clear the hallway before entering quietly behind. He followed them up the stair well to the third floor, and waited for them to go inside Yuri's apartment. Then Russ pulled his gun from its holster and stood quietly with his ear to the door, waiting for the right moment to bust in, and to be sure that Jaime was still in control of the situation.

Yuri began to grab at Jaime's clothing once inside his small studio, and was shocked when she shoved him into the far wall with one swipe of her right arm. Jaime quickly overpowered him, tying him to a chair with computer cables. She straightened her clothing and walked over to the door where she knew Russ was waiting, opened it and nodded at him.

"You can put away the gun, Russ, I don't think Yuri will be a problem, will you, Yuri?"

The little man saw Russ and groaned. "I should have known you were OSI. Goldman is always more trouble than he is worth."

"Where is Oscar, Yuri?" Russ growled.

The man shrugged. "How should I know? He's your boss…."

Russ grabbed his collar. "I'm not playing around, Yuri, tell me what you know, and do it now." Russ looked over at Jaime. "Or I'll turn her loose on you, and I'm sure you've already seen that she's a little…. stronger than most." Yuri glared at him, and Russ continued, looking down at Yuri's crotch. "Removing a limb or two wouldn't really be a problem for her…."

Russ smiled as Yuri gasped in horror at the idea of it. "You wouldn't…."

"I wouldn't," Russ said, "but she might."

After a moment, Yuri gave in. "I found an address of a possible PLO cell. I gave it to him."

"You sent him by himself to a PLO cell, are you nuts?"

"I am hardly his keeper, Russell, he wanted information, I gave it to him. Now he owes me."

Russ leaned in dangerously. "And if anything happens to him, Yuri, I'll owe you, and I promise I'll come to deliver. Give me the address."

"It's on the desk."

Jaime picked up a paper. "A house on Sherwood?"

"Yes," Yuri said.

"Let's go," Russ said as he and Jaime headed for the door.

"Hey!" Yuri yelled. "What about me? Untie me!"

Russ turned back. "We'll come back for you, Yuri. In about a week…."

Russ slammed the door as Yuri continued yelling.


	7. Chapter 7

Oscar had been watching the comings and goings of the house for some time. He knew he should call for back up. But if he did, he risked that Susan would be hurt in the take down. He couldn't risk that. Quietly he crept up through the back gate toward the back door, away from all the lights in the front part of the house. He knew from all his experience that a hostage would be held either in the very highest or lowest point in the house – so he needed to check the basement and the attic.

He reached up from where he crouched by the back door and peered upward through the crack between the shade and the window. He could see some movement from the other end of the house, but no one was in the kitchen. He gently tried the doorknob, but it was locked. Holstering his gun, Oscar padded down the delivery kid's clothes that he was still wearing, looking for anything that might prove useful: and his hand felt a long thin object with a sharp end. He pulled the nail file from the inner pocket of the jacket and carefully aimed it into the cylinder of the lock. Gently he jiggled it from side to side until he could feel where the teeth locked together. He worked the file against the teeth for a few minutes and finally heard them release.

Oscar put the file back in his pocket, pulled his gun once again and quietly let himself into the house. Closing the door softly behind him, he crept along the far wall until he was by the door that led into the dining room. He carefully peered into the room, but it was dark and empty; however, there was light pouring in from the room beyond that, and he assumed that was the living room. He moved into the dining room and once again moved swiftly and silently along the far wall. As he neared the archway that led into the living room he heard voices. Goldman stopped and listened for a moment: Palestinian, that he was sure. He closed his eyes trying to interpret what they were saying, but it had been far too long since he had been out in the field, and he could barely put together but a few words. Not enough to make any sense of what was being discussed.

One of the voices was female, he thought, although it was quite low in timbre. There was something vaguely familiar about it to him, but he couldn't quite place it. He saw a shadow move out of the corner of his eye and barely ducked behind the side of the refrigerator as a man walked by the archway. Oscar was quite sure the man was carrying a large automatic weapon. He gripped the handle of his .32 tightly: he was going to be way out gunned. Letting slow and silent air out of his mouth, Oscar peered out from his hiding place and looked beyond the archway and across to a hallway that went into another part of the house. That's where he needed to go, at least for now. He moved to the other side of the archway, where he could see at least two of the people speaking: two men in their late 20s, fit and both near very large guns. They were sitting in two chairs. He could hear two others, a man and a woman, but they were beyond his line of sight. Oscar waited until their discussion became somewhat heated, at least in volume and timbre, and he darted toward the hallway, making it easily into the darkened hall, no one having noticed him.

Quickly Oscar tried all the doors, peering quietly into the rooms, closing the doors behind him. They were all empty. He hadn't expected to find Susan there, but at least now he also knew there were no others on this side of the house. He worked his way back to the doorway leading to the common area and this time aimed his sights to head into the other direction, where he could see there was a door that he assumed would take him to the basement. Once again, Oscar waited for the voices to rise before he darted out from the hallway and back into an anteroom that was on the other side of the kitchen. He tried the door, but as he guessed, it was locked. He quickly picked the lock with the file and found himself on a pitch-black landing. Reaching out with his free hand, Oscar felt for a banister and found one on the right. Slowly he crept down the stairs until his head hit something light and dangling from above. His head jerked back instinctively, but as Goldman reached for it he realized it was a chain and he pulled on it, instantly illuminating the basement. He looked around and called out softly.

"Susan? Susan, are you down here honey?"

There was no answer. Oscar quickly searched through the bottom of the house, but found nothing. He went back up the stairs, yanked out the light and opened the door to the basement, peering quietly into the common areas once again. He pulled the door quickly to again when he saw the man with the gun wander from the kitchen to the hallway on the other side. Apparently this man's job was to patrol the house. Goldman once again looked out and made his way back into the dining room without being seen. There was a second floor to the house, but the stairs must be in the living room because he hadn't found them anywhere else. Oscar sighed. He had no choice but to create a diversion to get them out of the living room. He went back into the kitchen and began looking for newspaper, alcohol and matches. He had the newspaper under his arm and had just found the liquor stash when he was hit hard from behind and the world went black.

*******************

Goldman moaned as he came to, his eyes screaming against opening. The light that entered into his pupils assaulted him and his vision was blurry. He tried to move and realized that his arms were bound to something above his head, and his wrists and arms burned in pain. He groaned again and tried to clear his mind. He forced his eyes open once more and everything around him was still blurry. But then a familiar voice cried out to him.

"Daddy? Daddy?"

"Susan? Honey?"

"I'm over here, daddy, across from you. Can't you see me?"

Oscar shook his head. "My vision's a little blurred, baby." He swallowed hard. "My God I'm glad you're okay. Can you move, sweetie?"

"No, daddy. I'm tied to a radiator."

Then Oscar realized what he was also bound to, which explained the searing pain he felt in his wrists and arms where the pipes had burned his flesh.

"How many of them are there, Susan?"

"I don't know….."

"How many have you seen?"

"Five or six." Her voice wavered with fear, "Are you going to get us out of here? Please tell me you can get us out of here, daddy. Please…."

"I'll do my best, honey. I promise."

"I know there are at least four men and one woman. Is the other one male or female?"

"Male."

"Okay. And all of them are heavily armed?"

"I guess… I don't know! What does it matter? We're tied up in the attic and you can't see. How are we going to get out of here?"

"Susan, listen to me, I will get you out of here, you have my word. Whatever it takes."

The door burst open then and a man's voice interrupted them. "Well Goldman, you're awake. Very good." He said something in Palestinian and then Oscar felt himself roughly removed from the radiator and the floor, someone shoving him from behind.

He was hustled from that room down a hallway and into another room, but his vision was still blurred from the violent hit he took on the head. Oscar was quite certain between the blurriness of his eyes, the headache and the nausea that he had one hell of a concussion. A man's hands grabbed him hard by the arms and shoved him down into a chair. The voice from the other room spoke again, and Oscar could sense the man was standing right in front of him, very close.

"So, Goldman. You know what we want. You were incredibly stupid to come here and try to rescue your daughter on your own. Although I will give you some credit for finding us so quickly."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I should think that is obvious," Najjir said. "There can be no peace in the Middle East as long as Israel holds on to land that is not righteous."

"Gaza……this strip has been nothing but trouble since the beginning."

"Trouble? It is Holy Land, Goldman, but then I imagine your sensibilities lie with the Israelis….. But it does not matter. I have your child, Goldman. I'll kill her. I'll kill her a little at a time. But before that I will rape her. And I will do it all right in front of you."

Oscar felt his stomach tighten with each threat as the man spat them. "She has nothing to do with any of this!"

"She has everything to do with it, Goldman. Innocent Palestinian children are being murdered every day, don't you think their parents cry in anguish as they see them shot down or blown up in front of them? Perhaps some American parent should feel this very thing so that he can stop demanding something that cannot be."

"Please," Goldman whispered, "let her go."

Najjir struck Oscar across the jaw, hard. "No."

Blood trickled down Oscar's mouth and chin. "What do you want from me?"

Najjir hit Oscar twice more. "You know what I want. Call off the peace talks in Geneva."

"I….. I can't."

Najjir struck Goldman even harder and Oscar's consciousness wavered. A pale of water was thrown into his face and Goldman came around again.

"I…..can't. I don't have the power to stop the talks…. Don't you understand that?"

Najjir hit Oscar again. "Liar. You are a liar. Make the call. Make the call, Goldman, or your daughter dies."

Tears filled Oscar's blurry eyes and he whispered in agony, "I can't….."

The man began to beat him, but Oscar was unconscious after the first or second blow.


	8. Chapter 8

When Oscar came around he was on a bed, and there was a weight next to him, and he felt a warm cloth soothingly wiped across his forehead.

"Daddy? Can you hear me?"

"Mmmm?"

"There you are," Susan's soft voice intoned, "I was so worried."

"I'm all right, honey, really."

But Oscar knew he was far from all right. His vision wasn't just blurred now, when he opened his eyes, all he could see was blackness. He reached out for her hand, and he felt her grasp it.

"The only thing, Susan, is that I can't see at all now."

He felt her squeeze his hand and he returned the pressure.

"Why did they beat you?"

"I wouldn't give them what they wanted."

"What do they want?"

"There are peace talks scheduled in Geneva, Susan, and they want me to call them off. And I can't do this..... Not even to save you," Oscar's voice broke. "I'm so sorry, baby, I'm so very sorry…."

Susan leaned her head down on his chest and he pulled an arm across her in comfort. The door burst open again and Oscar recognized the same man's voice.

"Well Goldman? What do you think? Should I begin now?"

"Begin what?"

"The slow death of your daughter?"

Susan screamed and Oscar tightened his grip on her.

"Leave her alone." Goldman dragged himself off the bed, standing, unseeing, ready to do what, even he didn't know. "You'll have to kill me before I let you touch her!"

Najjir laughed and punched Oscar hard in the stomach, sending him to his knees. "Don't be a fool, Goldman. You can't even defend yourself, much less your child. You have only one chance to save her......"

Susan screamed and Oscar yelled for her, "Susan! Susan!"

"Daddy! Daddy, help me!"

He could hear her screaming for him as she was dragged from the room. Oscar got up and tried to follow, but was beaten down by the man.

"Stay dog, stay on the floor. You can listen while my men take turns with her…."

"No! No! Susan!"

Oscar screamed until his throat was raw. He pounded on the door, trying to break through it, but he collapsed in a heap on the floor, weeping silently.

****************

Jaime and Russ scanned the property and decided based upon the sounds and lights that the place they needed to be was in the attic. Russ had had to hold Jaime back as her bionic ear picked up the sounds of Oscar screaming, and only the threat of the fact that she might get him killed going in without a plan stopped her.

"Russ, we can't wait any longer. I can't hear him now. I don't know if he's okay."

"Hansen and his team are on their way."

"I want to go in now, Russ, by myself."

"No, Jaime, it's too dangerous."

"But a team…. Russ, they'll kill him if we don't get to him first."

Mark Russell knew she was right. He pursued his lips in thought, then finally said, "Look, I'll go with Hansen, but you do your stuff and get up to that attic now and I'll count on you to keep Oscar alive."

"That's a better idea…."

He watched wondering if it really was as Jaime ran toward the side of the house.

*******************

Jaime jumped up to the landing outside the second floor of the house and aimed her sights on the tiny sill area just outside the attic room. She landed quietly and quickly opened the window, crawling through. The light in the room was low, but she could see Oscar in a heap on the floor between the door and the bed. She went to him, gently rolling him over.

"Oscar? Hey babe, come on, it's me, it's Jaime." Goldman moaned and Jaime lifted him into her lap, running a soothing hand over his forehead. "Come on Oscar, I need you to wake up for me, babe."

"Jaime?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Susan, they're going to kill Susan."

"No, Oscar, they're not."

"I have to save her."

Jaime held him tightly trying to calm him. "No babe, they're not going to harm her."

Not understanding her calm, Oscar tried to pull away from her. "Didn't you hear me, Jaime? They're going to kill her! They're going to kill my daughter!"

It was then that Jaime realized he was staring through her not at her. She waved a hand in front of his open eyes and he didn't react. "Oscar, can you see?"

"No. Dammnit, Jaime, stop wasting time! Help me get to Susan!"

"Oscar, I need you to listen to me, babe. Just quiet down and listen to me."

"No!"

He tried to break away from her, but Jaime easily held him still against her. "Shhh, Oscar, please I need you to listen to me."

"No, my God Jaime, why are you doing this?"

Before she could answer, all hell broke loose. The doors downstairs were blown open, and gunfire filled the air along with the acrid smell of gunpowder. Jaime pulled Oscar up against the back wall of the room, putting the bed in between them and the door. She covered him with her own body as best she could, holding his head closely to her. He continued to fight against her.

"Let me go, damn you! Let me go to her!"

The door to the room flew open and Najjir followed by the woman Jaime knew as "Susan" entered the room. He pointed his gun at Jaime.

"Susan?" Oscar cried. "Susan?"

"Daddy!" She cried out as if she was being hurt. "Help me, daddy, please!"

"Oscar," Jaime yelled above the noise, "don't listen to her, she's not your daughter! She's a PLO operative!"

"Daddy, please! You can get them to stop and get us out of her alive! Please, tell them to stop!"

"If you call them off, Goldman," Najjir said, "I'll let your daughter go. I'll just take you with me."

"No!" Jaime cried. "Oscar, he's lying to you. She's not your daughter! He just wants to take you out of here as a bargaining chip to freedom and then he'll just kill you to prevent the talks....."

"Jaime, why are you saying this?"

Jaime held him tightly in her grasp. "Oscar, you can't see right now. I can. He's not holding a gun on her. As a matter of fact she's got one pointed at me."

The man glared at Sommers. "You'd better shut your mouth or I will shut it for you."

"Oscar, listen to me!"

A round of semi-automatic rifle fire flew above Jaime's head as she screamed.

"Jaime! Jaime!"

She tightened her arms around him. "I'm okay, Oscar. It's okay."

"Let both of the women go, and I'll call off the attack and I'll go with you," Oscar said.

"No. I let only Susan go."

"What about Jaime?"

"She comes with us."

"No," Goldman said, "No. Both of them go free or we're all going to die right here."

"Daddy, no! Please!"

Jaime could feel every muscle in Oscar's body tighten at the sound of the woman's pleas.

"Oscar, don't listen to her, I swear to you, she's not your child! Hansen checked it out, and—"

"--You!" The man pointed his gun at her. "Stop talking now, or I will blow your head off."

Hansen's men started up the stairs and the two terrorists moved across the room, standing above Sommers and Goldman, their guns trained down on them. Hansen stopped with his men in the doorway, pointing their guns at the terrorists.

"Well," Hansen said, "looks like we have a little problem here…."

"Hansen?" Oscar asked.

"Yeah, Goldman," he responded, frowning since Oscar was staring right at him. He looked at Sommers, "What's going on in here?"

Jaime said softly, "Oscar can't see, and he still thinks that this terrorist over here is his daughter."

Jack nodded with full understanding at Sommers and looked at the other man in the room. "And you, what do you want?"

"I will kill them both."

"Of that I have no doubt. And then I'll kill you. What do you want?"

"I want free passage out of here, and I will take the two of them as hostages."

"No," Hansen said.

"Hansen!" Goldman barked, "Get my daughter out of here!"

"Goldman….. Oscar, she isn't your—"

The terrorist put the barrel of his gun to Oscar's head. "One more word and his brains are all over this lovely young woman here."

Recognizing that he had few plays given the current situation, Hansen said, "Okay, you two can walk out of here, you have my word, but Goldman and Sommers stay."

"Hansen, what the hell are you doing?" Oscar cried.

"Oscar," Jaime warned, "please, you have to trust us."

"No," he growled.

"Then you have to trust me."

"Not anymore," he spat.

"Enough of this," the terrorist yelled. "I want to go, now, and they come."

"No deal," Hansen said. "They stay, you two can go."

"No. I can kill them here, now."

"Yes, or you'll just kill them in a few hours if I let you walk out of here with them. No. You can go, but they stay."

"I'll go with them if Jaime and Susan stay," Oscar offered.

Jack's voice held a tinge or sadness in it, but he remained firm. "Oscar, the terrorists know the deal…."

Jaime seized the moment when both terrorists were looking at Hansen. She grabbed the barrel of the man's gun and propelled him forward into the woman, knocking them both off balance. She rolled on top of Oscar, pulling him with her under the bed as the terrorists fired and Hansen defended himself.

Oscar screamed, "Susan!"

Jaime held onto him tightly until Hansen gave the all clear. Hansen helped Jaime up and then she bent over to help Goldman.

"Oscar, can you stand, babe?"

"Where's Susan? Where is she?" The panic in his voice pulled at both Jaime and Hansen who looked at each other sadly.

"Oscar," Jaime said softly, "she wasn't your daughter, babe......"

"Where is she, I want to go to her….."

"Oscar," Jaime said as she gently reached for him.

He violently flung his arms at her to keep her away. "No! Don't touch me! I trusted you with the most precious thing in my life, and you betrayed me, Jaime." His voice broke as the tears filled his eyes, "I can't forgive you for this," his voice reduced to a whisper, "I can't ever forgive you…."

Sommers tried to hold him but he lashed out at her again. Hansen nodded for Russ to get Jaime out of the room, and he leaned down toward Goldman.

"Where is she?"

Jack helped Oscar move over to the body of the double agent and watched as Goldman cradled her, crying quietly. Jack swallowed down the bile rising in his throat. As much as he and Goldman disagreed, Jack respected him and hated to witness the deception and the emotional destruction of the man.

"Oscar," he said gently as he took the man's arm, "let's go now. There's nothing left for us to do here…. Come on, buddy, it's gonna be okay."

Hansen tried to lift Oscar, but the man folded into the unnerved arms of the NSB agent, weeping for the child he never had but thought was his. And to his own surprise, Jack Hansen held Oscar tightly, his heart breaking for the agony he knew was tearing the man's heart in two.


	9. Chapter 9

Rudy sat on the edge of the bed and began cutting the bandage covering Goldman's eyes.

"Now I want you to keep your eyes closed, Oscar, when I first take the bandage off, your eyes are going to be very light sensitive, so you wait until I darken the room a little, okay?"

"Yeah."

A one word answer. It was all Goldman had uttered throughout his hospital recuperation. And he wouldn't let Jaime into the room. Not at all. He wouldn't talk to her and he wouldn't let her in to see him. The two of them were so incredibly miserable: Jaime was crestfallen, and Rudy knew that Oscar was heartbroken. Rudy's own heart was breaking from watching it, and yet nothing he had said to Oscar sunk in. On a level that Wells could not understand, Oscar Goldman had loved the woman he knew as Susan Wilson, and despite the fact that he had been told the truth, and knew it on a factual level, his emotions were still too raw to accept anything other than he had lost someone he loved and he felt that Jaime had betrayed him.

Rudy removed the bandages and then turned to the nurse. "Close the drapes please and dim the lights." The nurse followed his instructions and then Rudy turned back to Goldman. "Okay, pal, I want you to open your eyes for me, slowly."

Oscar's eyelashes fluttered and he painfully opened his eyes for the first time in over a month. His vision was blurred, but after a moment he began to make out the form of Rudy Wells.

Rudy held up a couple of fingers. "How many do you see?"

"Two."

"Good. How does the world look?"

"Okay."

Rudy sighed. He had fixed all that was wrong with Oscar physically, but the mental and emotional scarring was another matter entirely. Rudy pat one of the large hands on the bed. "There are some people outside who really would like to see you – and more importantly would like you to see them."

Rudy smiled and stood and was surprised when the hand grabbed his sleeve. "Who?"

Wells heard the unspoken word. "Russ, Callahan and… Hansen."

"Hansen?"

"Yes. He has been very concerned about you, Oscar."

"Oh."

Rudy frowned and walked back to the bed for a moment. "You know, we've all been terribly worried about you. And I'm, well, I'm very—"

"—Rudy, don't. Just don't say it."

Six words. It was more than Goldman had said in the past six weeks.

"Oscar, it hurts me to watch the two of you." Goldman glared up at Wells who sighed and leaned in, placing a soft hand on Oscar's forearm. "Please just think about it, Oscar. She loves you so much, and this is destroying her. She doesn't deserve that. And neither do you."

Rudy put both of his hands on either side of Goldman's face and lightly kissed his forehead, turning to leave before Oscar had a chance to comment.

After a moment, Wells returned with Callahan, Russ and Hansen in tow. Callahan rushed to Oscar's side, hugging him gently.

"It's so good to see you!"

Goldman tightened his arms around his petite secretary. "It's good to see you too, Peggy."

Russ leaned in and shook Goldman's hand. "I'm glad you're okay, Oscar, you gave us a helluva scare you know."

"Yeah, I'm sorry for that, Russ."

"As long as you're okay, Oscar, it's all good."

Goldman and Hansen exchanged a long look and then Oscar turned to the others in the room. "Would you all please excuse Mr. Hansen and I for a moment?"

Rudy, Russ and Callahan nodded and made a quick exit. The two men stared at each other for a moment longer.

"You okay, Oscar?"

"Yeah, thanks in part to you, I understand."

Hansen shrugged. "Team effort, Goldman, don't let it go to your head."

"Yeah, okay."

They stared at each other again.

"What?"

"This is probably none of my business, Goldman—"

"—Then perhaps you should consider leaving whatever it is, unsaid, Hansen."

"You know, under any other circumstances, I probably would, but I just can't." Goldman looked in confusion at the man. "I know that you thought Susan Wilson was your daughter," Jack saw the momentary pain flash in Goldman's eyes and felt a flicker of empathy. "You thought she was your child, and you loved her. And given the circumstances, you suffered the emotional loss of a child. I can't imagine how difficult that must be, Oscar, but I gotta tell ya, I don't really care how tough it is, because you know, there's another young woman who loves you no less than a daughter would her father, and you've thrown her out with the garbage."

Oscar's glare darkened and Hansen continued quickly, stopping anything from leaving Goldman's mouth. "You and I are men who are married to their jobs. And it's a lonely existence, Oscar. Damn lonely. That's something I understand all too well. But you have people around you who love you like family. And Jaime Sommers is one of them. She didn't do anything wrong. As a matter of fact, she rushed into a loaded situation to try and save your sorry ass. She put herself in harm's way for you, Oscar, and it wasn't just out of a sense of duty – it was for love." Hansen could see the tears welling up in Goldman's eyes. "And I think the reason you're keeping her as far away from you as possible has nothing to do with any kind of betrayal real or imagined, and everything to do with fear. Your fear that someday you might lose Jaime, and it would hurt all as much or more as losing Susan Wilson." Hansen stared hard into the watery dark brown eyes. "Isn't that right, Oscar?"

"Damn you, Jack. Damn you to hell."

Hansen moved close to the bed and took Oscar's hand in between his own, rubbing it slightly. "You're welcome."

********************

Oscar became aware of pain first and then opened his eyes, groaning. Rudy sat up from the chair beside the bed, taking Goldman's hand in his own.

"Easy, Oscar….."

"Rudy…."

"Need something for the pain?" Oscar nodded and Rudy pat his arm. "I have just the thing."

Rudy stepped out and a moment later walked back in with Jaime in tow. Oscar's eyes filled quickly with moisture.

"Oscar, I think it's time that I give you the right prescription to put you out of your misery….."

Goldman and Sommers looked at each other for a moment through wet eyes and he held his arms out to her. Jaime rushed to him, sat down quickly and fell into his arms. She cried softly into his chest and Goldman just ran his hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry, babe, I'm so sorry," he repeated to her.

"I didn't meant to let you down, Oscar…. I didn't want to…."

"Is that what you think, Jaime? That you let me down?" She nodded and he held her even tighter. "No, you did nothing of the sort. I'm sorry that I let you think that." He pushed her to an arm's distance so he could look into her eyes. "Jaime, I have never felt a hurt like that in my life, and when it happened I knew I wanted to protect myself from every feeling it again. But as long as you're close to me, I run that very risk: the risk of losing someone I love more than anything."

"Oh Oscar……"

Jaime held him close for a moment, then sat up brushing a soothing hand across Oscar's cheek.

Rudy stepped forward from the shadows, pulling a syringe from his pocket. "Okay you two, Oscar needs rest, and he really does need something for the pain." Rudy gently injected Goldman with the syringe and rubbed his arm. "Okay?" Oscar nodded. "Get some sleep, pal." He pulled Jaime up from the bed. "And you… come on, I'll buy you dinner."

"Hey," Oscar said sleepily, "you take care of my girl, Rudy."

"_Our_ girl, Oscar, and you can rest assured that I will."

Jaime leaned forward and gently kissed Oscar's lips. "Get some sleep, Oscar, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Be sure that you do, babe……"

Rudy put his arm around Jaime, and quietly they left the room. After the door shut Goldman's eyes filled with tears that rolled silently down his cheeks. He knew Susan Wilson wasn't his daughter. He had read the file. She was a PLO operative. She and her organization had played him. They had played upon one of his biggest weaknesses – his desire for a family. He knew all of the facts and yet it still hurt like hell. Despite the deception and treachery, he still loved her.

It had been unconditional love. His eyes fluttered toward the now closed door and the memory of the two people who had just walked through it. His eyes closed in pain. What if some other organization discovered his other weaknesses? What would he do if it were Jaime's life or Rudy's life that hung in the balance? What would he do then? That's why people like him didn't have families. It was too great a risk, not only to the people involved but also to national security. Oscar sighed. There was nothing he could do about it now. Loving his OSI family was his life's one absolute: he relied on them completely and unconditionally. And it was far too late to go back now. He could only hope and pray that his unqualified love never caught up with them.

Exhausted, his eyes fluttered once more and closed in a dreamless sleep.

###


End file.
